Does your career have branches?

For a long time, I tried to fit my career into one tiny box. Journalist, producer, writer, video editor, voice-over talent, podcast producer, storyteller, on-camera host, content strategist.Depending on the room, the title always changed. Sometimes that made sense. Sometimes it made me feel like I was carrying around a bag full of puzzle pieces and trying to explain the picture before anyone had seen the box.So I made a career tree. At first, it felt like a practical exercise. A way to organize the work I have done, the skills I have built, and the direction I am moving in now as I send my resume into the void.Once I saw all of my titles written on paper, something shifted. The tree helped me see that my career is not scattered. And I still have room to grow. The roots are in journalism. That is where I learned how to ask better questions, listen closely, follow information, write with purpose, and understand what people need to know. Journalism taught me how to enter unfamiliar spaces, make sense of complicated systems, and bring the story back in a way people can understand.That foundation shows up in everything I do. When I produce videos, when I write about food safety, when I lead a conversation, when I speak into a microphone, when I build a segment, shape a script, edit a reel, prepare for an interview, or explain why a story matters.Everything I do now is rooted in storytelling. That is the line I kept coming back to while creating my career tree. It felt simple and honest.I am in a season where I am looking at my work differently. I am honoring where I came from and making room for where my skills can take me next.I would like to continue to do the kind of work that lets me connect with people directly. For years, I thought I needed one clean title to make all of that make sense.But as you know, a tree does not grow in one straight line forever. It develops roots, branches, leaves, texture, and shape. Some branches grow stronger. Some get pruned back, and some offshoots may surprise you.That is where I am now, and I can look at the full scope of what I have already built. It’s all part of the process. It is where I am documenting this next chapter in real time: the pivots, the lessons, the work, the uncertainty, the confidence, and the creative life I am building from here.The career tree gave me a visual language for something I had been feeling for a while. My work has branches, and my roots are the foundation of where it all began.Does your career have branches? What does your career tree look like?Thanks for reading,The Journalist Who Cooks, aka Tamika Cody This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thejournalistwhocooks.substack.com